Bottle transferring and carrying apparatus



April 16, 1946. c. D. KEITH ET AL BOTTLE TRANSFERRING AND CARRYINGAPPARATUS FiledOct. 17, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 16, 1946. c. D.KEITH ET AL 2,398,747

' BOTTLE 'I'RANSFERRING AND"QARRYING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 17, 1944 2SheetsSheet 2' Patented Apr. 16, 1946 l UNITED STATE Borne NSFER Claude1). KeithgvLake Mahopa,

RING

5 PATENT o FicE Joseph E. 0?Brien,'fEnglewood-, and gSoren Made ,n I

s n :B r nfia ds N. J., assignors and Court .Order to Irene M; Keith,

, higtratrixnfsaid Claude Keith, deceased v g I 7 Application October"17, 1944',

seminarians;

This invention -relates to improvements *in bot- .tle-transferring andcarrying apparatus and particularly to apparatus ,or devices y-fpr-thelifting and carrying or transferring of cylindricalnecked bottles havingupper portions or tops provided with round surfaced; outwardlyprojecting ribs or bulbs arranged adjacent 'tothe top or capped endsthereof,

One of the objects ofthis invention is to provide a simple, inexpensiveand easily-operable and transferring er carrying such bottles,' pr'eferably in aggregated groupsfrom one pointto another, as for example, fromconveyors or turntable on which in bottling plants, bottles are agi- 10apparatus capableof speedy operation for lifting gregatedto abottle-carrying case or frorn-abotthe-carrying case to a washingmachine.

' Another object of our invention is, in a device of the character-specified,"-to provide for speedy operation by employingbottle-engaging members which are manually closable on'rthe necks of thebottles and automatically-releasable 'through spring operation bycontact or engagement ofthe bottoms of the bottles with a support '01-the like, the engaging members being so arranged that the bottles,uponclosute of the engaging members, will hang by'g-ravity in thebottle-engaging members and the :weight of the bottles may be utilizedto retain the bottle engaging members in closed positionfland to suspendthe "bottles in V I to engage and shift- .20

the apparatus until automatically released, as'

aforesaid.

Another object of our invention-is to provide means, inra device of thecharacter-specified to position the bottles vertically in relation to-anengaging device andmeans to space ibottlesaggregatediin contact witheach other and move thesame into transverse alignment with thepositioning.devicelormeans.

l'fitill another object of our invention is to provicle for speedyoperation ahy "utilizing spring means fornormally pressing'thebottle-engaging members intoppenpcsitionand fQr-autcmatically el a ingsaid ibottleeen agingimembers'when-lthe weight ot-the bottles removedjthereiromby set- 3 tz t-h bo t s down .on-a s i ahleisupport l n t erobje t bi our invention. :is, device of the lcharacterlspecified, toprovide in conne n th: normally-10pmb ttle ngasin plates at sin lemanually-actuated means and, preferably a finger orthumb-actuatedlmeniber for m ving all of said jawsintoclosedpos ti n incooperation with a handle ,on thedbas'e member adapted to "lift said"base member andthe bottles therein from their support and leave themhangmember or members to release the bottles,

ing-mem'bers in tops simultaneously the bottles and the removal of theweight thereof with the aboveobjects in view;

x in the drawingsz ingby gravity as aforesaid rin:saidtbOttle-engagingmembersg s l V Still another object of ourinvention .is torpreduce apparatus embodying a in base :member havingbottle-positioning openings arranged in axially-aligned rows'rbothlongitudinally and transversely and a bottle-spacer:device cooperatingtherewith composed of downwardly-tapered cu.- neiform partitionsarranged "between s c longitudinal and transverse rowspfbottIG-Pbsitioning openings, such partitions [preferably definingbeheath each bottle=positioning ripening -a =cavity, 0f squareconfiguratienrhaving outwardly divergent .wallszmeeting 9301110171161atl aagi-ven line below such ppeningsand having -pointed portions adapt-"her to rcause ispeedy operation and opening by automatically-openingspring means of said engaging member or members to release the -bottlewith the setting down-of from said gripping member or members.

together a with other objects which will hereinafter appear, ourinvention comprises-the combination of elements and. arrangement ofparts as hereinafter more specifically pecified; illustrated in thed'ravvfin s and pointed out in the l appended claims. l

Fig; ;1 he view in perspective i e bottletrans f er and rrying apparatusshowing our engagmg members in wideopen position and the tops of bottlesextending through some of the openings before movement of the,manually-actuated plungerto close the gripper members on the bot- (tl be'k tgen as thels n t n Q m 12 is anjillustrative fragmentary viewshowing: insection a single opening of bottle-transfer device jwlth theplunger and engaging members partly closed or depressed, the position ofthe bottle necks being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a broader view along the same lines as Fig. 2 showing theposition of the parts in fully-engaged position; 1

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of shown in Figs. 1 to 3;

the apparatus Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar I to Fig. 2showing in full lines a bottle neck and.

just prior to com.-

in section an engaging-member pletion of the engaging movement thereof;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view similar to'-Fig'.'5

showing the gripper member position; '7

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective showing in locked position ourmanually-releasable springactuated means for automatically locking thein final engaging gripper members against movement by the auto-,

matic opening means;

Fig. 8 is'a view similarto Fig. 7 ofthe locking means in open positionto disengage the ,bottle tops; and 1 Fig. 9 is a horizontalsectionthrough the automatic locking means and: adjacent mounting partsillustrated inFigs. 7 and 8.

Referring now to these drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodimentof our invention, I indicates a unit of our bottle-transferringand'carrying apparatus comprising a base-mem- I beror base-plate Hhavinga series of circular bottle-receiving openings I2 preferably offixed size, area an'd"po'sition.' As "illustrated, the bottle-receivingopenings'are arranged in rows of any suitable number of such openingsand our .9

preferred embodiment shows two parallel rows, each comprising three ofsuch openings to accommodate, transfer and carry six bottles, andaha'n'dle I0 is mounted between the two rows to extend substantiallyalong the longitudinalcenter line of the base-member II. V

Bottle-engaging members I3, I3".are pivotally mounted at onelongitudinal edge on the base member and havepivotal axes extendinglongitudinally of the base plate and adjacent to edge portions of saidrows of openings to cause the oppositeedges to be movable and tooverhang such openings. Such members I3, I3 are arranged to movepivotally from a closed position in abutment with and parallel to saidplate II to an open position inclined at an angle of approximatelyforty-five degrees (45) to-the base plate and vice versa. Theinclination of said jmembers in open position will not only permit freemovement of bottles projected through the bottle-receiving opening I2 toextend upwardly above said bottle-engaging members. but will in thereceiving or filling operation: of the device assistin guiding bottlesinto proper vertical position. The pivotal movement of i these engagingvmembers fromopen to closed positions will cause the movable edges ofsuch members to extend over edges are adapted when such members aremoved into closed position parallel to the plate II, to engage-the topsof bottlesprojected therethro-ugh,

j through such bottle-receiving openings, whereby toward and away from alongitudinal center line diametrically bisecting the circular openingsof a row of such bottle-receiving openings II. Each of the members I3,I3 are provided in axial alignmentgandconcentric with thebottle-receivingopenings of the base-plate II with arcuate bottle-tophugging-portions so as to produce a hugging or encircling engagementbetween said movable edge portions of the bottle-engaging members andthe necks of the bottles projected .the area'of contact between thebottle-'neck and the'bottle-engagin'g member is increased and a ,movedinto open, inclined position tighter engagement between the bottle-neckand said bottle-engaging member is produced than would be the case ifthe arcuate hugging portions were omitted,

In the preferred embodiment of our invention illustrated, two pairs ofsuch bottle-engaging members are employed to cooperate with two rows'ofbottle-receiving openings, and each pair is provided with a suitablenumber of pairs of arcuate bottle-top hugging portions to accommodatethe number of bottles which it is desired to handle bythe device, and asshown, we have provided three pairs of bottle-top hugging-portions toaccommodate six bottles.

While arcuate hugging-portions .in' the plane of the engaging memberencircle and hug the necks of the bottles, it is desirable, in order toprocure astill tighter grip and a steadying of the bottle in theapparatus, to provide such hugging portions with collars,;and, in theembodiment shown, we have provided deep collars I4 and I5 which not onlyencirclethe bottle neck but form checks which mm between the surface ofthe bottle-engaging members and the lower edge of the bulb or head b]of-thev bottle B.

I Inthe embodiment illustrated, the bottle-ena i g members are-providedwith rolled or folded pivoted-edges I 3a, I31), I30 and I36; and pivotpins 29 disposedat the opposite ends of these folded edges are mountedto move pivot- 1 ally in apertures in angle-bars 30 mounted transverselyat the opposite ends of the base member or plate I I and suitablyconnected thereto..

In said preferred embodiment, the pairs of pivoted engaging-members I3,I3 are normally automatically, and are retained in such open, inclinedposition to free the receiving opening during the loadin or positioningof the bottles within the bottlereceiving openingsof the base member II.As

illustrated, leach pairof the said members are automaticallymoved'andpressed into such open inclined position by a pair ofspring-pressed plungers 20, 2I which as shown, passithrough the andobstruct said openings, and these movable -a spiralspring' 22' mountedbase plate and in the embodiment illustrated are fixedly mountedv upon atransverse yoke member I'lgwhichis mounted to reciprocate on a fixed.rod I8- disposed below" the base plate- I I. Each yoke I 1 rests uponand is normally forced upwardly 'against the under s'urface of databaseplate by on thefixed rod I8 which, as shown, isfastened at its upper endin the base plate I'I, extends downwardly through said yoke-member topermit reciprocating movement of said yoke thereon and has at itsopposite end a spring-abutment member 2| for the spring 22. i

" .Th handle I 0', as, shown, has mounted thereon at the, front end'thereof, a manually-actuated closingmechanism which also serves to limitthe opening movement of the engaging members, and

for this purpose, we provide a reciprocating closing-member comprisingafyo'ke 23 mounted at its middle portion in vertical slots 26 formed ina tubular or hollow-leg Illa of the handle l and having fixed arms 21,disposed transversely at opposite sides of said slots 26 extending overthe bottle-top engaging members l3, l3 to engage and depress or move themovable or free edges of such engaging members when the yoke is moveddownwardly in the vertical slot 26 and also to limit the upward openingmovement of said movable edges of such engaging-members by the springs.r

The yoke member 23 is movable downwardly manually and for this purpose,we mountin the hollow-leg Ifla of the handle member ID a plunger memberor rod 21 which extends upwardly from the yoke 23, passes through anopening in the top of the leg Illa and is provided atits top end with anoperating button 28.

. Pressure bythe finger of the user on the button 28will move theyokedownwardly in said vertical slot 26 and will depress or close themovable edges of the bottle-top engaging members against the action-ofthe opening springs 22.

In the operation of the device so far described,

a series of bottles are aggregated or grouped on a suitable support, andwhen our device is pressed down over six of such bottles; the tops passthrough the bottle-top receiving opening in the base plate and extendupwardly a proper distance therethrough. The user thereupon by a manualoperation presses the button 28 upon the plunger 21 which in turndepresses the yoke 23 so that the arms 24 thereof engage and move themovable or free edges of the bottle-"top engaging member about theirpivots into closed position in which the arcuate, concentric,engaging-portions will pass beneath the bulb b and the bottle below thesame. Now, upon lifting of the transfer or carrier apparatus while theengaging members are in closed position the bottles will drop or movedownwardly slightly and then said bulb b will contact said arcuateengaging portions and will be hung or suspended thereon. The weight ofsuch bottles will completely counter-act and overcome the pressure ofthe opening springs and the bottles may be carried or moved by theapparatus while they are thus suspended.

Speed of operation of a device of this character is highly important andengagement of a series of bottles at the top-portions by a mere downwardmovement of the device over the same and pressure of the finger on thebutton 28 will enable an instantaneous and positive engagement of thebottles and upon a lifting of the device by the contact the neck of ingmembers.

to remove the weight thereof ifrom the movable I edges of the engagingmembers, whereupon these 22 to release the bottles. a In some'cases it.is desirable upon manual depression of the plunger to positively lockthe bottles in engaged position, and forthis purpose we provideaspr'ingqaressed locking member or lever which is pivotally mounted uponthe wall of the handle andpreferably is mounted in a bearing-bracket42,:connected to said wall by screws 43. Saidbracket 421s provided witha mounting member or arm 44 spaced from the wall of the tubular handleportion 10a and having a screw -45which serves as a pivot on which thespringpressed locking member 46 is mounted to swing into "and out ofengagement with the yoke "member 24. Y

a As :fllustrated, the pivoted locking lever .46 is provided at itsupper end with a finger-engaging releasing portion 48 and the lower endor heel t-liereofis adapted to be moved pivotally about the screw pivotI l'5-,'in' themounting arm :34. In said preferred'embodiment shown; weprovide aflat spring 41 connected at its; upper end to the inner wall ofthe bracket and having afree lower end adapted to press the lever .46outwardly or rearwardly :of the device and into resilient contactwiththerside face of one of the arms 24 of theyoke 23 so thatupon thelowering or depression .ofsaid yoke, the heel of the lever willautomatically move into locking position. over said yoke. When,therefore; the yoke is depressed manually by pressure 'on-thefibutton2B; the heel of the lever 45 will automatically moveover said yoke armto retain it and the movable edges ofthe engagingmembers in suchdepressed position and thus to keep the bottles 'lockedin position bysaid engag- In this locking arrangement, neither the weight of thebottles nor manual pressure on the button or knob 28 is relied upon toovercome the ower of the continuously-operat- I releasing of the lockingmember 46 from the yoke handle, the bottles may then be transferred toany suitable support and instantaneously released.

If desired, of course, the finger may beheld on.

the button 28 and the engaging member kept in depressed position untilthe user places the bottles on a suitable support or in a suitablecontainer, whereupon a mere removal :of the finger and the relief fromthe weight of the bottles by setting the same down on saidsupport, willimmediately cause the engaging members .tobe automatically swung intoopen position so that the device may be instantly removed from the topsof the bottles.

If, however, the pressure ,of the finger of the user be removed from thebutton 28 immediately after engagement of the bottles and the apparatusis simultaneously lifted .to suspend such bottles as above indicated, arelease of the bottles may be instantaneously and automatically effectedby a mere setting down of the bottles on a support 23, and we shavetherefore provided the locking member 46 with a finger-engaging portion48 for the releasing of the bottles and this releasing memberispositioned in adjacency to the operating button or knob 28, for engagingthe bottles.

As above indicated, the inclined bottle-engaging'members guide the topsof bottleswhen projected through the bottle-receiving openings, and wealso preferably/provide :means" to separate bottles; when aggregated orgrouped on a suitable support or arranged in adjacent lines by a mere 5downward movement of the device over the same simultaneously to. guidethe tops of such bottles into'the bottle-receiving openings in the basemember, and in the preferred embodiment of our invention illustrated Weprovide beneath the base member a bottle-guiding grill 3|preferably-comprising a single piece formed in any suitable manner, asfor example by a casting operating, by welding the parts or otherwiseand is com posed as a series of cuneiform portions 33, 34, 35,

36, 31, 38, 39, 40 and 4| (see-Figs. 1 and 4) arrranged longitudinallyand transversely'todefine a series of openings of truncatedpyramidaleconfiguration, the top portions of whichvopenings are alignedand concentric with the bottle-receiving openings in the base member sothat in effect, each of the circular openings in the base-member isinscribed within the outline of the top end of the pyramidal openings inthe grill. .The said cuneiform members .of the grill' arej extendeddownwardly a sufiicient distance to engage the cone-shaped necks of thebottles, and in ,view of the cuneiform conformation and the'pyramidalopenings, we are enabled by a mere downward movement of the device'overthe tops of the bottles to separate bottles that are arrangedclosely-adjacent to each other in groups or aggregations and to spacethe same in our apparatus for subsequent delivery and deposit tohoneycomb cases or to washing-machine channels or the like. In the formof our invention illustrated, the grill is connected at its middleportion to the basemember or plate by the bolts 50 (which also conmeetsthe handle I thereto) and at its ends is connected to the base plate byscrews 5L 'The operation of the device will be apparent from the abovedescription.

It is noted, however, that the device is useful with or without a'grilland when a grill is employed in a'device of the character specifiedjitbecomes unitary with or a part of-the base- .member and its openings andthe fixed walls thereof are preferably employed to position the bottlesfor subsequent engagement by the engagin members, whereas if the grillbe omitted the circular openings [2 would then function asbottle-positioning openings.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. In bottle-transferring and carrying apparatus, the combination of a;rigid movable base member having a plurality of bottle-positioningopenings provided with fixed walls for initially positioning in saidbase member the tops of bottles projected through said openings, abottle-topengaging member movably mounted on said base member and havingopening and closing movements over said bottle-positioning openings toengage and release bottles positioned in said openings, saidbottle-engaging member being adapted in closed-position to engage andretain in said base member the necks of bottles passing through saidbottle-positioning openings and in open position to release anddisengage said bottles from said base member, spring mechanism fornormally pressing said bottle-engaging member to open position to permitfree ingress of the bottl necks, and a manually-actuated deviceengagable with said bottle-engaging member to move the same to bottleengaging position against the action of said sprin mechanism, whereby;upon a lifting of the base member while said members are engaged, agravity hanging-engagement of said bottles is produced that isautomatically releasable upon engagement of the bottoms of the bottleswith a support. V

2. In bottle-transferring and carrying apparatus, the combination of arigid movable base member comprising a substantially flat plate having aplurality of circular bottle-positioning openings arranged in twoparallel rows and provided with fixed walls for initially positioning insaid base member the tops of bottles projected through said openings, apair of bottle-engaging members hingedly mounted between said parallelrows of bottle-positioning openings to swing in opposite direction abovesaid openings and having opening and closing movements upwardly anddownwardly in a vertical arcuate path above said openings, saidbottle-engaging members havin arcuate jaw portions positioned coaxiallyover said circular bottle-positioning openings and being adapted in theclosed position of said engaging members to engage and retain in saidbase member the necks of bottles passing through said openings and inopen position to release and disengage said bottles from said basemember, spring mechanism for normally pressing said bottle-engagingmember to open position to permit free ingress of the bottle necks and amanuallyactuated closing device conjointly engageable with saidbottle-engaging members to move the same to bottle-engaging positionagainst the action of said spring mechanism, whereby upon a lifting ofthe base member, while said bottle-engaging members are engaged, agravity hanging engagement of the two rows of bottles is produced thatis retained bythe weight of the bottles during the carrying thereof andis automatically released When the bottles are placed upon a support.

3. In bottle-transferring and carrying apparatus, the combination of'arigid movable base membercomprising a substantially fiat plate hav ing aplurality. of circular bottle-positioning 0penings" arranged in twoparallel rows and provided with fixed walls for initially positioning insaid base member the tops of bottles projected through said openings, apair of bottle-engaging members hingedly mounted between said parallelrows of bottle-positionin openings to swing in opposite direction abovesaid openings and having opening and closing movements upwardly anddownwardly in a vertical arcuate path above said openings, saidbottle-engaging members having arcuate jaw portions positioned coaxiallyover said circu1ar position of said engaging members to engage andretain in said base member the necks of bottles passing through saidopenings and in open position to release and disengage said bottles fromsaid base member, spring mechanism for normally pressing saidbottle-engaging member to open position to permit free ingress of thebottle necks, a manually-actuated closing device conjointly engageablewith said bottle-engagin members to move the same to bottle-engagingposition against the action of said spring mechanism, whereby upon alifting of the base member, while said bottle-engaging members areengaged, a gravity hanging engagement of the two rows of bottles isproduced that is retained by the weight of the bottles during thecarrying thereof and is automatically released when the bottles areplaced upon a support and a handle mounted on said base member adjacentto said manually-actuated device to enable immediate lifting of the basemember upon manual actuation of said closing device.

4. In bottle-transferring and carrying apparatus, the combination of arigid movable base member comprising a substantially fiat plate having aplurality of bottle-positioning openings provided with fixed walls forinitially positioning in said base member the tops of bottles projectedthrough said openings, a bottle-engaging member movably mounted on saidbase member and having opening and closing movements over saidbottle-positioning openings to engage and release b ottlespositioned insaid openings, said bottleengaging member being adapted in closedDosiand downwardly in a vertical arcuate path above tion to engage andretain in said base member the necks of bottles passing through saidbcttle positioning openings and in open position to release anddisengage said bottles from said base member, spring mechanismfornormally pressing said bottle-engaging member to open position topermit free ingress of the bottle necks; and a manually-actuated deviceengageable with said bottle-engaging member to move the same tobottle-engaging position against the action of said spring mecehanism,and a manually-releasable locking member automatically movable to lockand retain said bottle-engaging members in bottle-engaging positionagainst the action of said opening spring mechanism.

5. In bottle-transferring and carrying apparatus, the combination of arigid movable base member comprising a substantially flat plate having aplurality of circular bottle-positioning Openings provided with fixedwalls for initiallyposiioning in said base member the tops of bottlesprojected through said openings, a bottle-engaging member hingedlymounted on said base member above said bottle-positioning openings andhaving opening and closing movements upwardly extending below the bottlepositioning-openings. therein and composed ofclownwardly-extendinglongitudinal and transverse partitions arranged to providebottle-guiding openings disposed below the bottle-positioning openingsof the base plate, said partitions being of cuneiform shapeand disposedto produce bottle-guiding openings of pyramidal configuration, saidbottle guidin openings being axially aligned with and circumscribedabout the circular bottle-positioning openings in the base member.

CLAUDE D. KEITH.

JOSEPH F. OBRIEN. SOREN MADSEN.

